Hemmed in on four sides, Brick Lot Pub & Grill in downtown Sturgeon Bay found a creative way to offer open-air seating minus the elements and bugs of the conventional outdoor patio.

Bystanders might do a double-take seeing it for the first time.

About half of the bar/restaurant's front, stone wall facing North Third Avenue – roughly a 10-by-8 foot section – was obviously removed and replaced with ... what? Upon first glance, the answer seems to be the most clear plate-glass window ever constructed, because views of the interior from the street are as sharp as if nothing separated the two.

Actually, nothing does – at least when Brick Lot's new retractable garage-door facade is in the up position, as it has been for the last few summer weeks since it was installed. The innovation creates a terrace look in the dining area, from the bar's front door to its north wall where the Yankee Clipper storefront begins.

Brick Lot had few or no options for ever-popular outdoor seating, with the salon and Third Avenue Playhouse flanking either side; North Third Avenue outside the front door; and a parking lot, Dumpsters and private property to the rear.

"We're trying to get a patio atmosphere," manager Brad Hunsader said. "The idea came from a lot of places that are just like ours located in a downtown, or something where having a patio just doesn't work."

The trend has taken a while to filter down to smaller towns, but Hunsader said it's been around for about 15 years in larger cities. For example, an online feature in a Columbus, Ohio, dining magazine shows at least six such terraces in that city of 500,000 alone.

Wild Tomato, the Northern Door wood-fired pizza parlor, introduced a similar indoor-outdoor patio at its second location on North Bay Shore Drive in Sister Bay, which opened last month. The eatery has a full garage door in the dining area – making possible a floor-to-ceiling opening – and a half-door at the bar so outdoor patrons can order drinks without going inside.

Hunsader said he's been wanting to make the change since early 2014, when an extensive remodeling and revamped menu transformed what for nearly six decades had been Van's corner bar.

Lackie Construction removed the old wall and readied the new framing, and Door County Overhead Door put in the garage door. Kinnard Heating & Cooling of Green Bay installed upper vents that Hunsader said stream an "air curtain" to keep the air conditioning in and the flying insects out. A visit earlier this week revealed no noticeable difference in the comfort or mosquito levels.

People-watching gets much easier without a barrier and when passers-by can simply step up six inches from the sidewalk to Brick Lot's floor.

"Everybody likes it, and what it's done for us is it helps if people can just look inside and see we're not just a bar," Hunsader said. "We do a lot more of the food now. People can sit 'outside' on the inside, and two feet away it's raining cats and dogs."

The patio door did not close during last Wednesday night's heavy rainfalls, for example. When it does – for now, only after closing time and before opening – customers will see that the garage door is made up entirely of a dozen windows. So, in the winter Brick Lot will feature a mostly glass face on its north end.

"We'll close it if the wind blows the rain in a weird direction, but we haven't had to yet," Hunsader said. "We'll have to figure out when it gets too cold. Probably mid-October, I guess, we'll have to shut it."

Against where the old wall once stood, a long bench accommodated three indoor tables. But Hunsader said he actually gained five seats with the remodel, by moving the bench to the north wall and adding more tables and chairs near the vacated space.

Smokers congregating out front have been moved to the south side of the main entrance, away from the patio.

"We're trying to keep (smoking) to a minimum, to late at night when it becomes more of a nightlife, dance-club (atmosphere)," Hunsader said.

Wild Tomato, whose original location is the former Digger's Grill in downtown Fish Creek, does not use its new terrace for smoking.

CORRECTION: Smoking is not permitted in the Brick Lot's indoor patio and is discouraged outside except late at night. The original version of this article misstated the establishment's policy.